Trailer Hitch hardware

[FRC2973]

From your response in the Q&A regarding Trailer Hitch Hardware:

"Any hardware used to mount the Trailer Hitch is considered part of the ROBOT and not the Trailer Hitch. As such, it must be weighed and volume-checked with the ROBOT."

OK I'll play - how will the hardware be volume checked? Fasteners between the trailer spacer and the trailer mount bar will be floating in space without the spacer and mount bar removed.

[FRC2505]

http://forums.usfirst.org/showthread.php?t=11161

Any hardware used to mount the Trailer Hitch is considered part of the ROBOT and not the Trailer Hitch. As such, it must be weighed and volume-checked with the ROBOT.

If the trailer hitch spacer must be mounted so that its back face is on the bumper perimeter, doesn't that mean that bolts that penetrate the spacer and hitch (like in the drawing) will extend beyond the bumper perimeter?

How can an attachment outside of the bumper perimeter (the bolts) be part of the robot?

Wouldn't it make more sense to exclude the hitch fasteners in the same way that bumper fasteners are excluded from the robot?

[GDC]

The hardware used to mount the trailer hitch will be included on the robot when it's weighed at inspection. In order to ensure volume compliance, the hardware will be checked to insure that it does not add volume to the robot (for example, washers cannot be used on the outside of the robot volume to offset the hitch from the robot), and is only used to secure the hitch to the robot.